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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26966479">I got a terror I can't shake (Pushing down on my lungs)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/admirabletragedy/pseuds/admirabletragedy'>admirabletragedy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Broken Bones, Cause that's definitely not a reoccurring theme in my fics, Fic, Hurt Ezra Bridger, Jedi boyfriends being cute, M/M, Non-graphic description of injuries tw, no.12, whumptober2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:20:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,795</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26966479</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/admirabletragedy/pseuds/admirabletragedy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 12 • Broken Bones</p><p>In their defense, neither of them had seen the hill; they'd been a bit preoccupied with running for their lives.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ezra Bridger/Luke Skywalker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946944</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I got a terror I can't shake (Pushing down on my lungs)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toomanyfandoms99/gifts">Toomanyfandoms99</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title is from the song “Torches,” by The Oh Hellos</p><p>• Shoutout to @Toomanyfandoms99 for being amazing and supportive. </p><p>• There's also a reference to Postbellum because... it's Postbellum (If you haven't read Tmf's series, click out of this fic, read that, and then return, you won't regret it)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In their defense, neither of them had seen the hill; they'd been a bit preoccupied with running for their lives.</p><p> </p><p>They'd been assigned an easy mission, Luke was to hack into the base’s system and delete any incriminating footage of their break-in, while Ezra searched the rooms for the stolen artifact.</p><p> </p><p>With Luke doubling as a lookout, they'd thankfully been given a head start against the base's guards; in fact, the two of them — despite being spotted — had managed to escape the building unharmed.</p><p> </p><p>So yes… by all accounts it should have been an easy mission.</p><p> </p><p>Except it was <em> never </em> just an easy mission.</p><p> </p><p>With a push from the Force, he and Luke had managed to distance themselves from the base, sprinting into the surrounding forest.</p><p> </p><p>Of course, the planet’s biome certainly didn't help their cause; Luke had been raised in the desert and Ezra had been raised in grassy plains and sandy dunes. Neither of them <em> knew </em> forests and neither of them knew how to <em> safely </em> navigate them.</p><p> </p><p>It was because of this that neither of them had been watching the ground — kriffing stupid of them both, he knows now — when one thing led to another and Ezra had gone from running steadily through the area to tripping on a tree root, tumbling face-first down the rocky hill as he tried desperately to halt his descent. </p><p> </p><p>In doing so, he’d forgotten something very important: not to straighten his arms.</p><p> </p><p>But he had, stretching his arm in front of him and slamming it into the hard ground, hoping to slow his momentum and stop his fall.</p><p> </p><p>Everything had happened so quickly that it hadn’t even occurred to Ezra to use the Force, he had just panicked at his sudden loss of direction, naturally doing everything he could to slow down. </p><p> </p><p>To be fair, <em> it had worked </em>. His outstretched arm had ended his tumbling. Ezra just hadn’t been awake to realize this, the dark swallowing him whole before he had the chance to.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Which leads him to now. </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ezra groans as he blinks the fog away from his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>Arm pounding, he instinctively curls it to his chest, biting back a cry as it throbs from the movement.</p><p> </p><p>The sound of a groan next to him reminds him where he is and more importantly, who he’s with…</p><p> </p><p>“Luke?”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Hearing the confused response, Ezra does his best to push himself into a sitting position, looking to find the source of the reply.</p><p> </p><p>Ezra issues a sigh of relief when he spots the blond; Luke's lying with his back against the ground, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands.</p><p> </p><p>It’s getting hard to think past the throbbing in his arm and the pounding in his head so Ezra leans forward, his good arm pressed against the ground, his right cradled against his chest.</p><p> </p><p>A shift in their Force bond makes Ezra look up, and he comes face-to-face with Luke, who has since moved in front of him. At the sight of the blood on his boyfriend's face, Ezra sobers, reaching out and turning Luke’s head so he has a better view of the cut.</p><p> </p><p>It’s not dangerously large, but it’ll need bacta, or stitches, maybe both. Ezra’s not sure, it’s getting difficult to keep his eyes focused on the cut.</p><p> </p><p>Luke places his hand over the one Ezra has on his cheek, squeezing it softly.</p><p> </p><p>He moves his prosthetic hand to Ezra’s shoulder, “What happened?”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra looks at him incredulously, “We fell.”</p><p> </p><p>Luke worries his lip, “Yeah, I know. What happened to your arm?”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra gives a one-armed shrug, looking up at his boyfriend, “I’m not sure,” at Luke’s look he adds, “I don’t think I can move it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Can I see it, please?”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra knows it’ll hurt but he trusts Luke. Of course, he trusts Luke, so he says, “Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>Luke sits down next to him — leaving his foot against the ground with his knee bent, so Ezra can lean against it — and cautiously reaches out, gently moving Ezra’s arm so it rests atop his other leg, which is situated over Ezra’s outstretched legs. Ezra shuts his eyes tightly at the wave of pain that the movement brings, vaguely registering Luke’s whispered <em> “Sorry.” </em></p><p> </p><p>When he opens his eyes again — the pain settling to a dull throb — he can see Luke's worried expression, “Are you back?”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra nods and Luke begins to gingerly remove Ezra’s arm-guard — placing it on the ground beside them — and rolls Ezra’s sleeve above his elbow. Ezra is infinitely grateful that Luke doesn’t rush the process, instead, he proceeds slowly, checking in on Ezra often to make sure he’s doing okay. </p><p> </p><p>Ezra’s revealed arm is swollen, and when Luke softly touches the area by his elbow, Ezra can't help but flinch. </p><p> </p><p>At his sudden movement, Luke lets out a breath of air, “I think it’s broken.”</p><p> </p><p>Luke winces as he stands up and Ezra glances at him in alarm, “Where are you hurt?”</p><p> </p><p>Luke shakes his head, avoiding the question, and Ezra shoots him a glare.</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing his look, Luke sighs, blowing his hair out of his eyes, “Just my back. I’ll be okay, it’s probably just bruised.”</p><p> </p><p>He reaches a hand out to Ezra who takes it without any hesitation. </p><p> </p><p>It takes him a moment to adjust to the level-change, swaying on his feet, before he's able to adapt to the change. </p><p> </p><p>Moving behind Luke — who sends him a questioning glance — Ezra makes use of his good arm and lifts his boyfriend’s shirt.</p><p> </p><p>Luke's back is packed with dark bruises and Ezra draws in a breath through clenched teeth, “Are you hurt anywhere else?”</p><p> </p><p>Luke shakes his head and Ezra lowers his shirt back down, holding his arm to his chest as he moves to Luke’s side.</p><p> </p><p>“I guess we lost the guards.”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra can’t help but laugh at the statement. Trust Luke to find the positive in any situation.</p><p> </p><p>Luke grins back at him, sending him a wave of <em> comfort-love-comfort </em> through their bond, which Ezra soaks up like a sun-bathing Loth-cat. Grabbing Ezra's arm-guard from the ground and stashing it into Ezra's backpack, Luke moves forward. The blond keeps a hand on his saber — prepared to fight should the need arise — and matches Ezra's pace as they head back to their ship. </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>The sun is setting when they finally reach the ship and they’re both exhausted, clinging to the last reserves of energy they share, and trudging up the ramp with dragging feet. </p><p> </p><p>Luke closes up the ramp behind them as Ezra sits down in the co-pilot chair, whirling around to watch Luke lean against the wall with one arm. The blond kicks off his shoes and lifts his shirt over his head, letting the fabric drop to the floor. Even in the dark light, Luke’s bruises are starkly visible against his tan skin. </p><p> </p><p>As though sensing his inner turmoil, Luke moves to Ezra, settling down on one knee and unstrapping the buckles on his boots, pulling them off. As he sets them down, he pauses, placing a hand on Ezra’s cheek. Ezra leans into it.</p><p> </p><p>He hates to break the tenderness of the moment but Ezra knows they need to tend to their injuries. </p><p> </p><p>He grasps Luke’s hand, kissing his palm as he steps up, sensing Ezra’s intentions.</p><p> </p><p>Luke grabs the small medical kit — Ezra wants to kick himself for agreeing that they could switch the old one with a smaller version — and lifts the hatch on the floor of the ship, pulling up the small table that was folded underneath.</p><p> </p><p>Ezra observes him, focusing on Luke so he doesn’t drift back to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>At the sight of Luke setting down the kit and sorting through it, Ezra stands up, wincing at the angry throb in his arm that protests the movement.</p><p> </p><p>Luke glances at him, “You first.”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra shakes his head, “Nah. You first.”</p><p> </p><p>At Luke’s unimpressed look, Ezra leans forward and kisses his cheek, smiling at the pink dusting of Luke’s cheeks, “Yours will take less time, Luke. You can help me after, I promise I won’t fight it.”</p><p> </p><p>Luke’s gaze lingers on him, but he eventually nods in defeat, sensing the honesty of Ezra’s words.</p><p> </p><p>The blond turns and sits down, perching cross-legged on the pilot’s chair, resting his head in his arms.</p><p> </p><p>Ezra passes Luke the bacta, wordlessly requesting him to open the packaging, which he does, passing it back for Ezra to use.</p><p> </p><p>He’s as gentle as he can be with only one arm, placing the wide bacta strips over the worst of Luke’s bruises, located closest to his shoulders and hips.</p><p> </p><p>Luke waves away his silent apology through the Force, he knows just as well as Ezra that there are not enough patches for all his scrapes and bruises. </p><p> </p><p>Ezra slowly spins the chair around, running a hand through Luke’s hair. </p><p> </p><p>His boyfriend glances up — his chin propped up on the chair, between his arms — and Ezra grabs one of the few smaller bacta patches, gingerly placing it over the cut on his cheek.</p><p> </p><p>They stay like that for a while, just looking at each other, before Luke’s comm emits a loud beep.</p><p> </p><p>Luke begrudgingly tears his eyes from Ezra's — turning to sit properly in his chair — and grabs the comm from where it’s been lying atop the control panel.</p><p> </p><p>Ezra lowers himself to his own seat, tensing as he accidentally jostles his arm. </p><p> </p><p>Luke shoots him a worried glance but diverts his attention back to the comm when he hears Leia’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Luke?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, we’re both here.”</p><p> </p><p><em> “Good.” </em> Ezra leans his head against the back of the chair, having turned sideways in his seat, <em> “Was the mission a success?” </em></p><p> </p><p>Luke glances at Ezra’s backpack, which is slung over the hook by the ramp, “Yeah, we got it.”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra can hear Leia let out a sigh of relief over the commlink before her words grow formal, <em> “You both need to get out of there, then. The guards have begun issuing warrants for your arrest.” </em></p><p> </p><p>At Leia’s words, Luke leans forward, placing the comm on the panel before starting the ship. Ezra buckles up — watching Luke do the same — before he feels the ship leave the ground, smoothly ascending into the air.</p><p> </p><p>Leia stays silent until they've left the upper atmosphere and Luke's set the hyperdrive coordinates for their base and retrieved the comm.</p><p> </p><p>Luke unfastens his seatbelt but Ezra doesn’t move, there’s no point, it’d just hurt.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, we’re on our way back.” Luke’s words replace the tension, and Ezra can practically see the smile on Leia’s face as she replies, <em> “Excellent.” </em> </p><p> </p><p>Zoning out, Ezra digs his nails into his knee, with the adrenaline gone and the exhaustion setting in, the throbbing of his arm is becoming difficult to overlook.</p><p> </p><p>“...have a medic on standby.” Ezra looks up at Luke’s words, focusing back on the twins’ conversation.</p><p> </p><p>Leia must have startled because her voice grows tense instantly, <em> “Are you hurt?” </em></p><p> </p><p>Luke glances at him and Ezra offers him a noncommital one-arm shrug, “Yeah, I’m fine, just some bruises but Ezra’s arm is injured.”</p><p> </p><p><em> “How?” </em> Leia questions and Ezra’s heart warms at the concern in her tone. They’d known each other for years but he was still taken aback by Leia, Chewie, and Han’s acceptance of him not only dating Luke but joining the crew altogether. (Not that he didn’t visit the Ghost, he loved seeing Hera, Kanan, and Jacen, and on the rare occasions where they were all together — with the addition of Sabine and Zeb — he was genuinely happy. Force, he even enjoyed Chopper's company... <em> sometimes</em>.)</p><p> </p><p>“We don’t have any X-ray equipment, Leia, but he can’t move it, and it’s swollen.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “No bone showing?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ezra wrinkles his nose —<em> thank Force there isn't </em>— and Luke shares his reaction, “Definitely not.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “I’ll have Aphra on standby by the time you get back, don’t try to do anything yourselves.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Luke rolls his eyes, “Thanks, Mom.”</p><p> </p><p>Leia sighs, ending the connection, and Luke turns and faces Ezra.</p><p> </p><p>“And now we wait.”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra nods, “And now we wait.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ezra isn’t exactly sure how much time has passed before they reach the base, but the bright sunlight lets him know they’ve arrived during the planet’s day cycle.</p><p> </p><p> As soon as the ship lands, Luke stands, helping him up and settling his arm around Ezra's waist as they walk to the ramp.</p><p> </p><p>Despite the warmth of Luke’s jacket over his shoulders — his boyfriend had replaced his shirt but had given Ezra his jacket — Ezra feels cold as the ramp lowers and they walk down, his injured arm still held tightly against his chest. </p><p> </p><p>True to her word, Leia is waiting for them at the base’s entrance, Dr. Aphra at her side. </p><p> </p><p>Both women straighten at the sight of them and Leia gives them a once-over before pulling Luke into a hug and gently squeezing Ezra’s shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>Pulling back, Leia inclines her head to Aphra, who spares them a glance before spinning on her heel, wordlessly leading them to the med bay.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>“It’s a nondisplaced oblique fracture, which means the bone is broken diagonally. I have to realign your bone before I can wrap your arm in a cast.”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra pushes back his exhaustion and takes in Aphra’s words, “What?”</p><p> </p><p>Aphra squints at him before glancing at Luke, “Did you check for a concussion?” </p><p> </p><p>Luke shakes his head, looking worried, and Aphra sighs — muttering something about <em> kriffin’ stupid Jedi </em> — before moving over to Ezra — gently pushing him back so he lies against the cot — and warning him about the light she’s going to shine in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>It doesn’t take long before she pulls back from where she was hovered over him, “Well, it’s a mild one, but he’s definitely got a concussion.”</p><p> </p><p>“What does that mean?” </p><p> </p><p>Ezra can hear Aphra moving around the room as she answers, “It means I have to be careful with the amount of anesthetic I administer.”</p><p> </p><p>She pauses before asking, “Are you concussed too?”</p><p> </p><p>Luke’s reply is incredulous, “How am I supposed to know?”</p><p> </p><p>“Force, I love you but you’re such a raging dumbass.” Ezra grins at Aphra’s words and the resulting protests issued by Luke.</p><p> </p><p>He hears a few clicks before the room becomes silent again. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re fine.” Aphra pauses before saying, “I’m gonna need you to use your magic to make sure he stays awake.”</p><p> </p><p>Luke moves closer to him, running a hand through Ezra’s hair as Aphra clarifies, “I need to sedate him so I can realign his arm; he'll need enough general anesthetic to make sure he’s not in pain but he <em> needs </em> to stay conscious.”</p><p> </p><p>With Luke in his line of vision, he can see the blond nod, sitting on the edge of Ezra’s bed and continuing to run his prosthetic fingers through Ezra’s hair. The metal, usually warm, feels cool against his scalp.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Aphra appears on his right, leaning over to meet his eyes, “Your boyfriend’s gonna be making sure you stay awake while I work on fixing your arm, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra nods, and Aphra returns to standing, “Turn your head and face him.”</p><p> </p><p>He does as she says and returns Luke’s encouraging smile.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, the Force gives Ezra a pass for once and he doesn’t feel a thing as Aphra moves his arm back into place. </p><p> </p><p>He hadn’t even realized the ordeal was over until Aphra was holding different colored bandages over his head and asking him to pick one.</p><p> </p><p>He picks the dark blue, disregarding Luke’s <em> “Green would match your saber but fine…” </em></p><p> </p><p>His boyfriend is still by his side, sitting next to Ezra like a guardian angel. Ezra vaguely remembers hearing stories of them, the angels from the moons of Iego.</p><p> </p><p>Aphra wraps his arm quickly, explaining to them that the cast would need to stay on for nine weeks.</p><p> </p><p>Before long, they’re cleared to leave the room, Ezra having been permitted to sleep and Luke’s bacta patches replaced.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ezra lets out a content sigh as he settles on the bed, Luke stretched out beside him, one arm thrown over Ezra’s stomach.</p><p> </p><p>Force, he’d missed feeling clean and warm and relished in the comfort of their bed. It has only been two days but Ezra feels as though it has been months since they’d first departed on the mission.</p><p> </p><p>Luke blinks up at him, propping his chin on Ezra’s chest, “Go to sleep, Sweetheart.”</p><p> </p><p>Ezra sighs, the tension leaving his body as Luke’s calm aura floods his senses. </p><p> </p><p>“Only if you do too.” Ezra closes his eyes but can feel Luke nod, the blond’s hair tickling his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Love you,” Luke mumbles, melting into Ezra’s side.</p><p> </p><p>Ezra smiles, “I love you too.”</p><p> </p><p>It’s now that Ezra finally, <em> finally </em>, lets himself fall asleep, his arm never leaving its place over Luke’s back. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>When I was in third grade I fell out of a tree — stOp LaUghiNg — and learned the hard way not to lock my arms in place when falling.</p><p>So yeah, I fell out of a tree and passed out, waking up to see two of my two-years-older neighbors leaning over me and like any logical human beings they decide the best course of action is to move my arm to see if it's broken. Thankfully, Luke has more sense than those two because jfc. ******* and **** if you two are reading this you were lovely neighbors and good friends but seriously wtf.</p><p>I had to go to the hospital and needed to be sedated so I would be unconscious while they realigned my arm.</p><p>It was a whole ordeal guys, idek, but I got a green cast for my troubles so you can do with this information what you will.</p><p>THIs is a PSA to !!never!! lock your limbs in place if you're jumping/falling/bracing for something because it won't ever end well, take it from me.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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